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Tag Archives: IMF

Free trade not without cost

Is the concept of free trade outmoded? Well, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that free trade is being seen, increasingly, as a tool that benefits the affluent, cautioning that help is needed for people whose job prospects have been damaged by globalisation so that a fresh case can be made for removing the barriers to international commerce.

In advance of its annual meeting in October, the IMF released a statement from the half-yearly World Economic Outlook study, in which it spotlights weaknesses in the global economy as being largely responsible for the stalling of trade growth over the past few years.

It also acknowledged that protectionist measures in the wake of the financial crisis had ‘not been innocuous’ and advised that anti-trade feelings could harden further, given the current climate.

Have neoliberal economic policies had their day?

In a recently released report, economists from the International Monetary Fund have issued their strongest warning to date that the austerity measures promoted by countries including the UK and Germany aren’t helping to grow the global economy.

The IMF article contains a strong critique of the neoliberal strategies that have been a dominant force for the last 30 years. It argues that while the expansion of global trade has saved millions from poverty and the privatisation of state-owned enterprises has inevitably led to more efficient provision of services, at the same time reducing the fiscal burden on governments, the approach has failed to deliver in other areas.